Filtration

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 Conventional Surface Water
Treatment
Raw water
Screening Filtration
sludge sludge
Alum
Coagulation Cl2 Disinfection
Polymers

Flocculation Storage

Sedimentation Distribution
sludge
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 Filtration
 Settled water has a turbidity in the range from 1 to
10 NTU (typically 2 NTU).
 Level of turbidity interferes with the disinfection
process.
 Turbidity must be reduced further after the
sedimentation process.
 EPA requires treated water turbidity level to be
below 0.3 NTU (1 NTU is regulatory).
 Filtration is used to remove turbidity to required
levels.
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 Filtration
 Filtration is a solid-liquid separation technique in
which Liquid passes through a porous medium to
remove as much fine suspended solids as possible.
 Particulates removed may be those already present
in the source water or generated during the
treatment processes.

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 Filtration – what can be removed
 Silt
 Clay
 Microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, protozoan cycsts)
 Colloidal or precipitated humic substances
 Other natural organic matters from the decay of
vegetations
 Precipitates of aluminum or iron used in coagulation
 Calcium carbonate, magnesium hydroxide precipitates
from lime softening.
 Iron and/or manganese precipitates

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 Types of Granular Filters
 Filters can also be classified by the rate of filtration
 Slow sand filtration
 Rapid filtration
 Based on driving force
 Gravity filters
 Pressure filters
 Based on flow direction
 Downflow filters
 Upflow filters

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 Types of Filters
 Filtration can also be classified as
 Depth filtration: solids are removed within the
granular material (e.g. Rapid granular filters)
 Cake filtration: solids are removed on the entering
face of the granular material (e.g. Pre-coat or
membrane filters)
 Slow sand filters utilize both depth and cake
filtration.

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 Particle Removal Mechanisms in Filters
 The principal mechanisms of removal of material within the
granular bed filtration are:
1. Straining
2. Sedimentation
3. Impaction
4. Interception
5. Adhesion
6. Chemical adsorption
7. Physical Adsorption
8. Flocculation
9. Biological growth
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Straining

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 Removal of Microorganisms by Filtration
 Giardia lambia and Cryptosporidium parvum are
highly resistant to disinfection – waterborne
outbreaks in North America
 Rapid filtration, slow sand filtration, diatomaceus
earth filtration and membrane filtration is
effective in removing pathogenic microorganisms.

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Filter Media

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Filter Media

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Filter Media

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Filter Media

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 RATE OF FILTRATION
 Rate of filtration (loading rate) is the flow rate of water
applied per unit area of the filter. It is the velocity of
the water approaching the face of the filter:

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EXAMPLE

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solution

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 Slow Sand Filter
 Operate the same way as the natural percolating
process through soil. (0.05 – 0.2 m/h)
 Raw water seeps downward through a submerged
0.9 to 1.5 m deep bed of small sand (0.3 to 0.45
mm in diameter).

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 Mechanisms of impurities removal in SSF
 Particulates are removed by straining at the
bed surface.
 With time, microorganisms strained on the
surface forming an active biological layer called
“Schmutzdecke” which acts as an additional
filtration layer.
 Slow sand filters slowly lose their performance
as the Schmutzdecke grows and thereby reduces
the rate of flow through the filter, requires
refurbishing.
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Slow Sand Filter Cleaning

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 Advantages and Disadvantages of SSF
 Advantages:
 Simple to construct and operate
 Do not usually require coagulation/flocculation before
filtration
 Bacterial count reduction is 99.9% to 99.99% and
E.coli reduction is 99% to 99.9%
 Disadvantages:
 Large area is required
 Unsuitable for treating highly turbid waters > 30 NTU
 Initial cost is low but maintenance cost is much more
than rapid sand filter
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Design criteria for SSF

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Example

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 Rapid Sand Filter
 The most common type of filter for treating municipal
water supplies.
 Filtration rate is greater (5 – 15 m/h)
 Coagulation pretreatment is required prior to filtration
to destabilize particles.
 use a coarser medium, suspended solids can penetrate
deeper and accumulate throughout the rapid filter bed.
 Head losses increase rapidly (because of the high flow
rate) and the filter must be cleaned more frequently by
backwashing.

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 Advantages and Disadvantages of RSF
 Advantages
 Turbid water may be treated
 Land required is less compared to slow sand filter
 Operation is continuous.
 Disadvantages
 Requires skilled personnel for operation and
maintenance
 Less effective in bacteria removal
 Operational troubles

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 Types Of RSF
 RSF based on filter material, three types:
 Single-media filters: these have one type of
media, usually sand or crushed anthracite coal
 Dual-media filters: these have two types of
media, usually crushed anthracite coal and sand.
 Multi-media filters: these have three types of
media, usually crushed anthracite coal, sand, and
garnet.

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 Geometry and components of Rapid Sand Filter

 Main components of Rapid sand filter are:

1. A concrete tank
2. Filter media
3 Under drain system
4. Backwash system: pressurized water and air lines
5. Wash troughs

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 Components of Rapid Sand Filter
 The gravel serves to support the sand bed and is usually
placed in several layers.
 The underdrain system serves to collect water from the
bed during filtration cycle. During the backwashing cycle,
it serves to distribute the backwash water.
 The rate of flow of the backwash governs the hydraulic
design of the filter since it is several times greater than the
filtration rate.
 Underdrain systems are two types:
 Manifold with perforated lateral pipes
 False bottom
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 Hydraulics of Filtration
 Head loss is caused by accumulation of particles on top
and within the depth of the filter.
 The head loss for water flow through a clean bed of
porous/granular media can be estimated using the
Carman-Kozeny equation.

Where

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 Carman-Kozeny equation
 For stratified beds with uniform Porosity, the
Carman-Kozeny equation is:

Where x = weight fraction of particle sizes d

d = grain size diameter, m
D = depth of filter bed or layer, m
ε = porosity
va = approach velocity (m/s)
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 Rose equation
 Head loss through clean bed of porous media having
relatively uniform diameter is given by Rose equation as
the following equation:

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 For stratified beds with uniform Porosity, the Rose
equation is:

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Example 1

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Solution

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 Example 2
A rapid sand filter has a sand bed 0.610 m in depth.
Specific gravity of sand = 2.65, shape factor 0.82,
porosity = 0.45, filtration rate 1.70 l/s-m2, and
operating temperature = 10 oC. The sieve analysis of
the sand is shown in Table . Determine the head loss
for a clean filter bed using Rose and Carmen-Kozeny
equation for a stratified bed.

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Solution

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 Backwashing
 involves passing water upward through the filter media at
a velocity sufficient to expand (fluidize) the bed and wash out
the accumulated solids.
 Done when:
 The head loss through the filter exceeds the design value.
 Turbidity breakthrough causes the effluent quality to be less
than a minimum acceptable level.
 A pre-selected maximum filter run time has passed since it was last
cleaned.
 The entire backwashing operation may take up to 30 minutes
before a filer is brought back on-line.
 Filtered water is used which consumes 1-5% of the product
water.
 Bed expansions is achieved during backwashing 65
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 Backwash Hydraulics
 During backwashing, the water flow through the filter bed
is reversed thus expanding and fluidizing the bed.
 The porosity of the expanded bed could be estimated using

 The settling velocity (Vs) for the largest diameter particle in

the sieve analysis is used for calculating Vb by rearranging

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 Backwash Hydraulics
 The depth of the expanded bed (De) for a bed that
consists of uniform media can be calculated by

 For beds with non-uniform media the expanded bed depth

may be determined by

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Backwash Hydraulics

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ALTERNATIVES FOR BACKWASHING
 Backwashing consists of upflowing water and a
supplemental scouring system.
 The typical options for supplemental scouring systems
are
 Surface Wash system
 Air Scour system
 Surface Wash system - inject jets of water from orifices
located about 2.5 – 5 cm above the fixed-bed surface.
 surface wash operates 1- 2 min before the upflow wash
 usually is continued during upflow wash
 is terminated 2 to 3 min before the end of the upflow wash
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 Air scour-assisted backwash
 Air scour-assisted backwash
 Air scour systems are necessary for cleaning
deep-bed filters.
 Air and water are introduced simultaneously at
the bottom of the filter bed.

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 BackWash Delivery System
 Backwashing requires a large volume of water to flow
through the filter in a short time.
 Backwash water can be delivered to the filter through one
of three methods:
(1) backwash pumps,
(2) an elevated backwash water tank,
(3) a head difference between the effluent channel
and filter box.
 Most filters require between 2 and 4 m of static head at
the filter bottom.
 many backwash systems are designed to provide up to 10
m of head at the pump or elevated tank.
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Filter media support system: Gravel layer

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 WASH TROUGHS
 Wash troughs provide a channel to collect the waste
washwater so that dislodged suspended matter will be
carried away without losing filter media.
 The troughs should have enough capacity to carry
the maximum expected wash rate without flooding.

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 Filter Arrangement
 Filters are typically placed adjacent to one another
along one or both sides of a pipe gallery or gullet
 rapid sand filters are usually rectangular in shape with
an average length: width ratio 2:1-4:1
 Surface areas of gravity filters typically range from 25
to 100 m2.
 filter depths range from 3.2 to 6 m.
 For water treatment plants processing < 88 L/s, a
minimum of two filters should be used.
 If the capacity of the WTP exceeds 88 L/s , a
minimum of four filters should be used.
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Example

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Solution

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